My Time of Rebirth
by Korazoe
Summary: Kanade starts running into old friends from the afterlife and everyone starts to remember. New troubles in the real world arise, and this time. . .they can die. Finally the truth comes out. Can they handle it? Will the paradise of rebirth end? Will their love survive?
1. Weekend

_**My Time of Rebirth**_

_Chapter 1: Weekend_

_**I've decided to do an Angel Beats Fanfiction now. I'm still going to continue Music Competition, but I really wanted to make this one. Hope you like it, too. BTW, it's in Kanade's POV. **_

I walked behind the group, not wanting to look at dresses and shoes. I wanted to stop and looked at the books. It wasn't really my thing to go shopping for clothes.

"Tachibana! What are you doing way back there?!" Yukki asked.

I smiled and ran to catch up. "Just. . .looking."

"Keep up!"

My name is Kanade Tachibana. I live in Tokyo with my mom. Dad died years back. I like spending my time looking out my window or reading. Sometimes I go out with my friends, Yukki and Tsuki, but don't really like to. I mean, they're my friends and all and I really love them, but it's just. . .well, they're different from me.

"Hey! This would look so cute on you, Tachibana! This hat and dress!" Tsuki said golding up a dress with a small bolero to my body and placing a hat on my head. "Don't ya think?"

"Yeah!" Yukki laughed. "Tachibana, you should really let us buy these for you!"

"Um. . .sure."

Tsuki pulled them back to her chest and smiled bigger. "Only if you wear them tomorrow! Please?!"

"Yeah, I'll wear them tomorrow," I replied, forcing a smile. "Hey, I have to go soon."

Once the outfit was bought and paid for, I hugged them and ran back to my house where mom greeted me, then I pounded up the stairs to my room.

Inside I found an envelope on my bed. It was from my brother in America. He wrote occasionally, but rarely. I always looked forward to them.

I ripped it open and pulled out the letter. It read:

_Dear Imooto-chan,_

_ How is mom doing, Kanade? I'm planning on coming home this summer, can't wait to see you. Any new news? I'm really missing Tokyo right now._

_ America is nice. I'm in the United States right now. I'll send you a post card. _

_ Tell mom I love her, see you this summer!_

_ Love,_

_ Oni-chan_

I set the letter on my desk and opened the window. "Another letter. When will he come?"

"Kanade! Get the door!" Mom called from her room down the hall.

I ran downstairs and opened the door. There stood a boy with blue hair and blue eyes. He was scratching his head and frowning.

"Hey, I'm going around the neighborhood looking for my lost dog. Have you seen this pup?" He asked holding up a picture of a puppy.

I looked closely at it, then shook my head. "No. I have never seen that puppy."

He sighed. "Oh, well, then sorry I bothered you. Hey, I know that uniform. Do you go to Silverlight High School?"

I cocked my head to the side, noticing his uniform for the first time. "Yes. And you?"

"Yep! I'm Hinata Hideki, nice to meet you. . .?"

"Kanade Tachibana."

He held out his hand and after a bit of hesitation, I shook it. He seemed. . .familiar? No, it was just my imagination.

"Hey, I'll see you at school Monday! And if you see my pup, call! Bye!"

He ran down the sidewalk and was gone. I blinked in confusion, then shut the door. I found a rice ball in the kitchen and grabbed it, then ran outside.

"Kanade, where are you going?" Mom asked.

"Book store, I'll be back before curfew!"

I ran and ate the rice ball at the same time. The book store was my favorite place on weekends.

"Hey, Tachibana! Nice to see you're back again," the bookstore owner said.

I smiled. "Yes, I've come for the next book in the manga series. Number five was good. Six was better. Now for seven."

He turned around and grabbed a book off the shelf, handed it to me, then smiled. "Yes, seven is better. Hey, what about that other one?"

I reached into my bag and set it on the counter. "It wasn't as good, but. . .nice, I guess."

"Yeah, that's what everyone says."

I bowed, then turned around and ran out the door. I ran into Hideki on my way out.

"Oh, hey Tachibana, I didn't know you came here. Funny how we keep running into each other huh?" He laughed, scratching his head.

"Yes, funny. Were you following me, Hediki?" I asked.

His eyes snapped open and he frowned. "What?! No! I come here almost every Saturday!"

"Oh, well, that's nice. I should be getting home now. Goodnight, Hediki."

I walked past him, then ran the rest of the way home. Mom was making dinner and turned around.

"Kanade, you're out of breath again. Why do you run home all of the time?" She laughed.

I sat down at the table and smiled. "I like to run."

She set the plate on the table and sat across from me. "Don't run yourself out, sweetie."

After super, I went upstairs and changed out of my uniform, then climbed into bed. I turned out the light and rested my head on the ever so soft pillow.

I hadn't forgotten my plans for the next day.

In the morning, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. From the corner of my eye I saw the outfit Yukki and Tsuki had bought for me and picked it up.

"I guess I should wear this."

The dress was white, and ruffly at the bottom, there was a blue jean bolero to go with it, and a hat with a black ribbon around it. I snapped on a necklace Akio, my brother, had sent me from America and grabbed my shoulder bag.

"Mom," I said once I was downstairs, "I'm going out with Yukki and Tsuki, I'll be home later."

"Okay, have fun, Kanade."

I walked outside and the sun hit me at full force. It was blinding, but great.

"Tachibana! Hey!" Yukki called running up and tackling me. "You're wearing the outfit! See? I said it would look nice on you!"

A small smile crossed my face. "Could you please put my hair up for me?"

She giggled and took the hat off, then pulled my snow white hair up into a ponytail. "You have such wonderful hair, Tachibana. Hey why don't we ever call you by your first name?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Well, we've been friends for, what? Months now!" She exclaimed, giggling. "Tsuki and I should call you Kanade, right?"

"Yeah. . .yeah, that would be nice. I do call you two by _your_ first names. Yukki. Tsuki. Why not Kanade?"

She smiled and hugged me, then called over Tsuki. "Hey Tsuki, we should go now, huh?"

"Yeah, we should."

We walked out and into town. Yukki screamed when we stopped at a cafe for coffee and cakes. Her long time crush worked there.

We sat at a table in the far corner next to a window while Yukki stared at the teenage waiter. He had blonde hair that came to his shoulders and wore cuffs around his neck. His name was Tk and Yukki was completely _obsessed_ with him.

"I hear he sings and dances," Yukki said, batting her eyes.

"I hear he also has a girlfriend," Tsuki laughed.

Yukki suddenly frowned and looked out the window. "Who is she? I'll challenge this so said girlfriend of my man and kick her ass!"

Tsuki and I laughed. Yukki was so daring, and what was with "my man"? I bet he didn't even know her.

"Go ahead, I hear she is extremely good at fighting!"

I looked over to Tk. "Why don't you go talk to him, Yukki?"

"What?!" She shouted. "Are you completely insane! Why would I do that?! I mean, he's. . .just. . .too perfect for me anyway."

She said the last bit in a whisper. She thought she was too. . .odd? No. I was the odd one, Yukki could fit in with any popular kid. Even Tk.

Suddenly he started to walk to our table. "Is there anything else you might want, dude?" He asked, looking from me, to Tsuki, to Yukki.

"No, we're fine," Tsuki said, "but. . .thanks for asking."

Yukki blushed and looked the other way. "We're fine."

Tk looked behind him, then back to us. "Okay then. Enjoy your. . .cake and coffee."  
Yukki finally looked at him as he started to walk away, then she got up and tapped his shoulder. I sat with my head in my hand, watching.

"Hm?" He asked, turning around.

She blushed, then looked at the ground. "Um. Would you. . .would you. . ."

Tsuki walked over and linked arms with her. "Yukki wants to know if you'll go out with her sometime."

Tk scratched his head. "Um. I don't know."

He suddenly looked up, then back to then. Except, he looked at me.

"Angel?" He asked. "Kiss you!"

He was suddenly different. More of a high, singing voice when he said that. But. . .why did it seem so. . .familiar.

"What?!" Yukki asked, looking back at me, then at Tk. "What did he just say?!"

I blinked and moved back. "What?"

"Angel!" He said again, then shook his head and looked back at Yukki. "So, uh. . .yeah. Yeah, I'll go out with you sometime. But hey, I have to go change real quick. You think we can go now?"

Yukki blushed, seeming to forget his previous words. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

Tk smiled, then ran off. They sat back down and frowned at me.

"Angel?" Tsuki asked. "Kiss you? What does that mean?"

"It was like he switched personalities all of the sudden," I said.

"He was talking to you, Kanade," Yukki replied.

"I do not know what he was talking about."

Tsuki shrugged. "Just forget about it. You know, I have flashbacks all of the time. Like, I'll just space out, and then sometimes I'll say something. You know?"

"But he said it twice!" Yukki complained.

Tk ran up and smiled. "Ready?"

She turned all red and stood up, bumping the table. "Yep. Uh, sorry about that."  
"No prob! Let's go!"

The two left and Tsuki frowned.

"Wait, didn't we have plans? Yukki just left us! Not cool!"

"We can always go shopping without her, you know," I suggested.

She sighed. "No. We'll wait. What do you say, after school tomorrow?"

"Yes. That would be great. I'll meet you here, and I'll text Yukki."

"Okay, thanks, Kanade. Talk to you tomorrow!"

Tsuki got up and walked out of the cafe, leaving me to pay, then walk home alone. I stopped on the sidewalk to text Yukki.

Once I started to walk again, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I spun around, hoping to see Yukki or Tsuki, but it was a bot. He had orange hair and sort of a purplish faded eyes.

"Yes?" I asked.

He blinked, as if noticing what he was doing for the first time. "Um. Sorry. I thought. . .I thought you were someone else. My bad."  
I cocked my head to the side. "Who. . .who did you think I was?"

I knew that wasn't something a normal person would ask. They would normally just say okay, then walk away. But it just seemed right to ask for me.

"Um. It's. . .awkward. But a girl from a dream I had," he replied, scratching his head.

"A dream? Why would you dream about me?" I asked.

He stopped, then waved his hands in my face. "No, no! It wasn't you! I was wrong! You have shorter hair and. . .and. . .your eyes are the same though. Why is everything the same? What's your name?"

I looked behind me, then back to him. "I should be going now. Goodbye."  
I turned around and ran. Suddenly in my head I was hearing voices. I was seeing images I didn't know of. Not exactly memories, but not daydreams either.

I was saying thank you. He was hugging me. I disappeared. He cried, then disappeared as well. What was it?

"Kanade, you're home early. You didn't stop by the bookstore on your way home?" Mom asked when I came into the kitchen.

"No, I did not. I came straight here. Yukki left early, so we did too," I replied, sitting down.

"Super is done now, are you sure you aren't going to the bookstore?"

"I am sure. I'm hungry. Let's eat."

After super, I went upstairs and changed out of my clothes, then climbed in bed. It had been a nice weekened. A nice weekend. Yes, a very good one.

_**I didn't mean to make it so long, but that's just how it turned out. Hope you liked it. You see, this was the boring chapter and I promise you it will get better. Thanks!**_

_** -Korazoe**_


	2. Remember

_**My Time of Rebirth**_

_Chapter 2: Remember_

_**This is a fun story to write and I continuously come back to it. Anyway, to the story!(P.S., try imagining Kanade's voice from the anime when she talks, okay?)**_

__I dressed in my uniform. A plain button up white shirt and silver bow, then a silver plaid skirt with white stockings. I tied my hair up in a pony tail and walked downstairs where mom was cooking breakfast.

"Morning, Kanade. Sleep well?" She asked, a sudden happiness in her voice.

"Yes. You?"

"I slept fine, hon. So. . .your brother came home last night."  
I dropped my chopsticks and was on my feet in seconds. "Where is he?"

"Sit down, Kanade. He went to work earlier this morning," she replied, glaring at me.

I sighed and sat. "He didn't even say hi."

Mom walked over and sat across from me. "Kanade, something happened when he was in America."

I looked up. "What happened?"

"He came home last night depressed, not himself. When I asked what was wrong, he just looked up at me, then went to his room. I asked again this morning and he said something about someone dying. You know Akio, Kanade. When he gets like this, it's for a big reason. Please,don't get on his bad side."

I nodded and slumped down in my chair. "I was looking forward to his normal happy self. I'd have to wait."  
I stood up and grabbed my bag and swung it over my shoulder. "I'll be at school."

Halfway to school, I ran into Hideki and he smiled. "Hey Tachibana! Are you going to the Terry Cafe tonight?"

"Why would I go there tonight?"

He stopped and stared at me. "You mean you haven't heard? You know the two girls who always play on the side of the rode? Their names are Masami and Yui Iwasawa. They're sisters. They sing and play guitar. You know them?"

I thought back to one night when I was walking home with Yukki and Tsuki and we saw two girls with pink hair and pink eyes doing a performance and I nodded.

"Yes, I know them."

"Well they're playing tonight at the Terry Cafe! You should come! I hear all of their fans are coming. It'll be great!"

"I'll be there after school anyway. I guess I could stay until they come. Yes, that would be fun. I will be there."

He smiled. "That's cool."

We walked the rest of the way to school in silence and when we got there, Hideki turned in a circle, then spread his arms out. A girl jumped into them.

"Hinata!"

"Hey, Yui!"

"You're coming to our performance tonight, right? I'll be really disappointed if you don't come!"

"Don't worry, Yui. Of course I'll be there! Hey, where's Masami?"

Yui shrugged. "Dunno. Probably with Hisako somewhere. Hey, who's this?"

"This is Kanade Tachibana."

Yui smiled and giggled. "You're pretty, Tachibana. Hey, Hinata. I'll see you at lunch, I'm gonna go practice. See ya later! You too, Tachibana!"

"Kanade-chan!"

I turned around and was suddenly tackled by Yukki. "Kanade! It was so amazing! Tk and I had a blast! I wish you could have seen us!"

She squealed and fell backwards onto a bench. "I love that guy. Except sometimes he randomly started spinning on his head and was someone else entirely, but that's besides the point."

Tsuki laughed and sat down next to her. "Yukki, all you've been talking about is Tk. Can we please change the subject?"

Hediki walked over with his hands in his pockets. "Who are they, Tachibana?"

"My friends. Yukki and Tsuki. This is Hinata Hediki."

Tsuki stood up and held out her hand. "Hey, I'm Tsuki Hero. Nice to mecha!"

Yukki looked at Hediki, but wasn't really paying attention to him. "Yeah, and I'm Yukki."

"I'm going to go to class now," I said, turning around, "I'll see you all at lunch."

I walked off before they could reply and entered my first hour. My desk was in the very back of the room right next to the window. It was the best spot.

I sat down and stared out the window at the streets and cars below. The people walking by, the continuous flow of movement. It was endless.

The bell rang and soon we had a full room. The teacher walked in and slammed his books down on his desk.

"Sit down, all of you! It's time for class! This isn't social hour!" He yelled.

The door opened and the teacher glared, then his face softened.

"Finally. Class, this young man just transferred from his class to this one. He is the smartest in all of his classes and is now ready to join the advanced ones. This is Yuzuru Otonashi. Please welcome him."

The orange haired boy from yesterday walked in and bowed. "Hello. I am Yuzuru Otonashi."

I looked back out the window, not paying any attention to him.

"Otonashi, you can go ahead and sit back there next to Tachibana. Kyoto! Sit down and stop terrorizing her! And you! Stop throwing things at him!"

I finally looked back when Otonashi sat next to me and smiled.

"You again?" He asked, smiling still.

I narrowed my eyes. "Any more dreams about me?"

His smile faded. "Yes."

Otonashi's attention turned to the teacher and I kept staring at him, then looked at my paper.

"Tachibana?" The teacher asked.

I looked up. "Forty-two, sir."

"Very good. Now, Otonashi, if-"

"Ninety."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "That can't possibly be right. He never finished."

"That's correct, Otonashi. Thank you."

I gasped, then looked away. A few seats ahead of me, I saw a kid pull out a paper and crumble it, then turn around and throw it at Otonashi.

I suddenly jumped up and caught the paper, without meaning to. It was reflex.

The teacher turned around and I saw the thrower had turned around, looking innocent, and Otonashi was focused on his work. It made me look like I was about to throw it. . .right at the teacher.

"Tachibana! Hallway! Now!"

I knew better than to protest, so I walked out to the hall, dropping the paper in the trash on the way. They were all jerks. I hated them. All of them.

I slid down the wall until my knees were up and I let my head rest on them. I had never been sent to the hallway before. It was horrible, the feeling I had.

The rest of the day flew by faster than I had expected. The next thing I knew, Yukki, Tsuki, and I were all in the cafe eating cakes.

"So what about you, Kanade? How was your day?" Yukki asked.

I looked up for the first time since we arrived. "Huh?"

"How did your day go?" She repeated.

I blinked. "I was sent to the hall and had a guy beat me up. My day was terrible. What about you, Tsuki?"

They just stared at me. Most of the day I had spaced out and in the hallway, I had run into a guy and he punched my in the face for it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kanade-chan!" Yukki cried. "You should have told us sooner!"

Tsuki pointed to the wall where a poster was taped and a huge smile spread across her face. "Masami and Yui are performing here tonight! We are so staying until they come!"

I nodded. "Hediki told me."

As if on cue, Hediki, Yui, and Masami came through the door and walked over to our table. They slid in next to us, smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Tachibana," Hediki said.

"Hello, Hediki."

He was silent, then replied, "hey, you can call me Hinata. I really don't go by my last name. By the way, can I call you Kanade?"

I blinked. "Sure."

"Cool! Hey, Masami, why don't you guys start?" Hinata said.

"Not everyone is here yet, Hinata. Shut up, have some patience."

Yui giggled. "She told you."

He elbowed her. "Shut up, you."

Yukki laughed. "You guys are quite the friends. I wish we could have that much fun."

"We can!" Tsuki laughed.

Soon the cafe was crowded with people in every booth. Masami stood up and opened her guitar case. "Okay. It's time."

Yui pulled out her red electric guitar as Masami pulled out her acoustic. They both went up in front of the counter and the cafe cheered. All of the employees went and sat on the booths as well.

They started to play. It was like a real concert, but much smaller. They both sang and played, both smiling. They were the siblings that actually had something in common.

"Aren't they amazing, Kanade?" Hinata asked.

"They're really good."

Suddenly Tk and a kid came up and Tk sat next to Yukki, the other next to him.

"This is my buddy, Matsushita. He's gonna sit with us, 'kay?"

"No problem," Yukki replied, giggling.

That's when I saw the orange haired boy come in with a little girl who looked similar. They sat down at the booth in front of us. I stood up, then walked to his table.

"Otonahsi, what are you doing here?" I asked.

He looked up and frowned. "Tachibana? My sister and I are watching them play."

He gestured to his sister, then Masami and Yui

I cocked my head to the side. "It is as if you're following me, Otonashi."

He smiled. "Or maybe it's just destiny."

"Highly improbable. I hope you enjoy their performance."

When I sat down, a glimpse or maroon caught my eye, then faded into the crowd. Something inside me stirred and I suddenly thought one word.

Afterlife.

Why? I don't know. It just came into my mind. Along with SSS and graduation. Those three words bugged at me until the end of the performance when everyone calmed down, and most left.

"We rocked it!" Yui said, jumping on Hinata.  
"Yes we did," Masami replied, smiling.

We sat and talked for a little bit, then Yukki and Tsuki had to go home. I stayed with everyone else.

"So Tachibana, can you play music?" Masami asked.

I blinked. "Music? I don't know."

Yui gasped. "You don't know?! Oh my God! We have to teach you if you're going to be our friend!"

"Your. . .friend?"

"Kanade, did you think we would just talk with you for hours if you weren't our friend? Well, maybe we would, but still!" Hinata said.

I smiled. "Yes, I'm your friend. And. . .and. . .mom says I'm a natural on the piano."

"Your mom says? Well, whatever. We'll see if that's true tomorrow in the music room. Okay?" Masami said, then she and Yui got up and joined another table.

"Kanade, I'm gonna go with them. I'll catcha later."  
Hinata got up and left, then Tk and Matsushita. I was left alone, staring at the table. For some reason it seemed familiar. Those words still bounced in my head.

SSS. Graduation. Afterlife. What was with them? I hated it.

Soon all there was in the cafe were Hinata, Masami, Yui, Tk, Matsushita, Otonashi and his sister, some kid on a laptop with another kid who kept pushing up his glasses leaning over his shoulder, some random kids with crossed arms in the shadowy corner, and a bunch of other random pairs of teens. Even twins.

Then the door swung open and a girl with pink-maroon hair stood there with her hands on her hips. "Get your butts in gear! Why are you all sitting around?!"

It went silent as everyone stared at her. She glared back at us.

"Am I talking to myself here?!" She asked. "Come on!"

Hinata frowned. "Excuse me?"

She then stopped glaring and her hands fell to her sides. "You mean you guys don't remember yet? I thought for sure you would remember with Gldemo's music."

Otonashi then stood up and walked over to the girl. "Yuri."

"Otonashi?"

"Fate really is a funny thing," Otonashi laughed.

I stood up and walked to the door, then tried to push past the girl and Otonashi. I made it, but they noticed me.

"Kanade!" The girl shouted, then tackled me.

"Please get off me. I do not know you."

She grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes. "Why wont you remember? Come on, Kanade!"

I wiggled out of her grip. "I'm sorry. How do you know my name?"

"Kanade! It's me, Yuri Nakamura! We were in the afterlife together!"

"Yuri, maybe we should go somewhere else with this. I think a public cafe is. . .an odd place for an SSS meeting," Otonashi said.

"Oh, you're right. How will we get all of these mindless fools somewhere. . .uh, to the park?"

"Like this."

He walked in and whispered into Masami's ear, then walked back outside. When Masami got up, everyone looked at her.

"Hey guys, I'm performing in the park next! Let's go!"

Soon everyone from the cafe was at the park. I was curious, so I came as well.

Yuri got up in front of everyone then. "Hey. Idiots. Remember something. Hinata, we started SSS together. Don't you remember that? Naoi, you were playing God for a while. Takeyama, you like being called Christ, right? Takamatsu, you train in secret and enjoy stripping no matter how awkward it is. Noda, where is your axe? I thought you would carry it around scaring everyone like you did in the afterlife. And Irie, Sekine, why aren't you playing music with Masami and Yui? Guys, it's me, Yurippe."

She had said SSS. Afterlife. No, it couldn't be true. Was it possible?

Tk suddenly switched personalities again. "Dude! Dance to the beat, man!"

"Tk?" Yuri laughed. "Same as ever."

"Kiss you, man."

I couldn't keep in the laugh. What was going on though?

"Angel! Dudes, Angel!" Tk shouted, looking at me.

Everyone turned and looked at me, I felt as if their eyes would melt me.

"Angel," Hinata muttered. "Oh my God. Angel! Kanade! Yurippe! How did we all meet up?!"

I took a step back and blinked. Suddenly everyone started to shout and look at Yuri. She smiled and there was a big group hug. I kept walking backwards.

Otonashi came over to me. "Kanade, we're all back. Come on. Why wont you remember?"

"I don't know you people," I said.

Then there was a large eww from the group and everyone stared at the girl with a scarf around her neck.

"You're dating _Naoi_?!" Yui asked. "Ewwy!"

"Shiina, what's wrong with you?" Yuri asked.

"This is so stupid."

Otonashi grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "Kanade Tachibana, remember. This is an order."

"Order?" I asked. "Why?"

"We worked together to obliterate everyone, you took your orders from me. Please, Kanade, remember. For me."

I wriggled out of his grip, turned around, and ran. I ran until I was out of breath, then kept running. I ran into my house, past mom, and up the stairs, into my room.

"Why me?" I asked, digging my face into a pillow.

Mom tapped on my door and came in. "Kanade, what's wrong?"

"Is Akio home yet?" I asked.

"Yes, he's in his room. What's wrong, hon?"

I stood up and pushed past her, then walked into Oni-chan's room.

"Oh, hello, Imoto-chan. How are you doing?" He asked, but his normally happy eyes were blank.

"Oni-chan, did I forget something? Something like a part of my life?" I replied.

He sat up and looked at me. "Not that I know of. Why? Can you not remember something now?"

"I can remember everything from my life now, but some kids at the café were asking me to remember. What if. . . what if it's a different life! Is that even possible?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Oni-chan, I want to remember what they told me to, but I don't know what they're talking about. Do you think you can help me?"

He stood up and knelt in front of my. "Kanade, I think you just need sleep. Maybe it was all a dream. Just, relax."

I took a deep breath. "Yes. Maybe it was only a dream."

"Kanade! There's someone at the door for you!"  
I slowly stepped out of his room and stood in Akio's doorway. "Who is it."

"It's your friend, Naoi."

I shut my eyes and looked the other way. It wasn't a dream. "I. . .I don't want to see him."

Suddenly Naoi was in front of me and his eyes were red. "You want to remember. Remember the afterlife."

I was pulled into a dream.

_**This was a shorter chapter because I'm writing it in keyboarding at school right now. I was going to make her remember in this one, but I guess that'll have to wait until chapter 3. 'ank you!**_

_** -Korazoe**_


	3. Fix It

_**My Time of Rebirth**_

_**Chapter 3: Fix It**_

_**I really have nothing to say right now. Please read Who's the Hero Now? By I Thirst For Blood. Just thought I'd put that out there.**_

__It was like being in a dream, but more like a. . .memory?It was like being in a dream, but more like a. . .memory? It was as if my mind was trying to remember something that I had forgotten. . .something that shouldn't be brought up. Why was Naoi doing this to me? It hurt. The pain to my head was too much to handle.

"Remember the afterlife. Remember Angel," he said.

I screamed and fell to my knees, holding my head. Images of a school came into my head. Blades coming form my hands, bloody scenes. All of the people from the cafe. Masami playing in a band in the school, then fading into nothing. Yui taking over, then she faded. Otonashi. . .he always smiled at me. That smile was so kind. We had fun together.

Then there was the battles. Once it was against everyone, then I fought with them against shadows. Then we all disappeared. Everyone left. It was the graduation.

What was this? Why was it so familiar? Why did Naoi make me endure this? I wanted to run. Yes, that's what I would do. I would run from him.

I struggled to me feet and grabbed the wall for balance. Everything was blurry, but I saw everyone had come to my house. Yuri was standing in front with her hands on her hips, Otonashi was behind her, his worried eyes on me.

"Kanade," he said, stepping closer.

I moved away from them, then ran upstairs into my room. Why wasn't mom there? Where was she? Why was I here in my own house with these people I hardly knew? Akio should have been beside me! No, this wasn't happening. It. . .couldn't.

I shot up, panting. I was laying in bed, sweat poured down my face. What had just happened?

I slipped out of bed and walked to my desk. I was still in my uniform and I smoothed out my skirt, then looked at my laptop calender. It was Tuesday. . .afternoon?!

Did I go to school? Did mom not wake me up when I never came down for breakfast? Why was I just now waking up?

I pounded downstairs while running my brush through my hair. Mom was sitting at the table with Akio, laughing. They both were. It was nice to see Akio smile.

"Kanade, good morning," mom said, smiling.

"Why didn't I go to school?" I asked.

She blinked. "Kanade, you collapsed in the hallway when you ran to your room last night. All of your friends surrounded you and looked really scared. Akio had to force them to leave because they were all worried. I never saw Yukki and Tsuki with that group though. What was with that? Did something happen? Are those your new friends?"

Akio turned around to looked me. His eyes were still empty. "Hey, are you alright, Imoto-chan?"

I slowly sank to my knees. "I'm. . .fine."

I wasn't fine. I wasn't fine at all. Did they not see Naoi? His eyes were red and he was making me remember something that never happened. And now they acted as if those people were my friends.

"Kanade?" Mom asked, running over and putting her arm around me.

I felt like falling over and never waking up. Falling down, down, down. Into an eternal sleep of nothingness. Nothing and no one.

"Kanade!" She shouted, her worried eyes searching my face for something, anything.

I blinked back tears of no meaning and looked up into her face. "Sorry. I should lay down."

Akio walked into the living room and grabbed a blanket. Mom laid me on the couch and Akio set the blanket atop me. I fell asleep before I was even set on the couch.

No dreams came. It was just a complete blackness.

I awoke later that night to Akio speaking to my sleeping mind. My eyes remained closed, but I was very much awake, and listening.

". . .and then she jumped in front of the bullet. The robber was amazed at her braveness. She fell to the ground and the robbers ran. They got away and I was speechless. Numb. She died. That's why I came home. She died and it. . .it was my fault. That's what happened in America. My one true love died."

He smiled and looked down at me, not knowing I was awake. "I guess you don't really hear me, but please don't die. When people get sick enough to pass out, I become scared. Please, Kanade, don't leave me like she did."  
I squinted and slowly opened my eyes. "Akio?"

His smile grew. "You finally awake?"

His empty eyes stared into mine and I sat up, leaning my back on the armrest. "Akio, I'm sorry about that girl. I promise you I wont die."

"Everyone dies, Imoto-chan. It's a fact of life. By the way, your friends Nakamura and Otonashi are here."

I was fully awake now. Yuri and Yuzuru walked in and knelt by the couch. Yuzuru smiled and Yuri frowned.

Yuzuru. I called him by his first name. Why?

"Are you feeling better, Kanade?" Yuri asked.

"What happened?"

Yuzuru looked at Akio, then back to me. "Could we talk somewhere else?"

Akio glared, but stood up and walked to the door. "Kanade isn't going anywhere. I'll leave the room to you three though."  
Once he was gone, Yuri turned to me and smiled. "That idiot Naoi tried to make you remember with his hypnotic powers, but failed. You fought back. God that must have hurt. He also used his power on your mom and brother to make them believe we're your friends and have been for some time now, so they would let us talk to you. Sorry if this is a lot to handle, but it's all true. We all died and were sent to the afterlife where we became friends. You and Otonashi tried obliterating everyone so they could live new, happy lives, and in the end, we all left ourselves. So here we are now, meeting up. Funny right?"

"I don't know how we all seemed to meet up, but somehow we did. And I'm really amazed that Hinata and Yui seemed to find each other again. It's just amazing," Yuzuru laughed.

Yuri looked at him. "There seems to be only one couple left that hasn't found each other, Otonashi."

His smile melted and he looked away. "Yeah. Just one."

I blinked. "And who would that be?"  
"Who cares? I don't, time to go!" Yuri said standing up. "Come on, Kanade! Time to meet everyone at our new meeting spot! Lets go!"

Yuzuru and I stared up at her and were silent. She opened one eye, then kicked Yuzuru.

"Get your butts in gear! Let's get moving!"

Yuzuru quickly stood up, then held out his hand to help me. I hesitated, then took it and he pulled me up and off the couch. I looked down and noticed my messed up uniform, the touched my head and felt my hair, it was horrible.

"I should fix myself first," I said.

Yuri nodded. "We'll wait outside."

I held onto the railing for support as I climbed the stairs and entered my room. I ran the brush through my hair and put it up in my usual tail, then straightened my uniform. I really didn't want to change.

Soon after, I grabbed my bag and headed down the stairs where Akio was waiting in the family room, right in front of the door.

"Where are you going, Kanade?" He asked, crossing his arms. "You're still sick."

"Onii-chan, I'll be home soon, and my. . .friends will be there to support me," I argued.

He planted his feet and glared. "No. You are staying in bed."

Suddenly the door swung open and Yuri kicked Akio. "She's not a baby anymore! Stop being brother-dad and let her go! Come on, Kanade!"

While Akio lay on the ground in pain, I slipped past him and walked outside. Yuri led me to the park where an old abandon shack stood, or rather almost stood. Mostly falling. Inside the group from the day before sat around a table. Arguing.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have left so early, Iwasawa!" Noda shouted.

"Hey, you stay out of this, Noda! This is Gldemon matters!" Masami yelled back.

Yui whistled and the whole room fell silent. "Hey! Shut up! Yuri's here!"

Yuzuru went and sat by Hinata and Yuri jumped up on top of the table in the center of the group. I hung back, standing in the doorway.

"First things first. We're going to get this shack in shape! Got it?" Yuri said.

Noda grinned. "That's a direct order from Yurippe. Get to it."

Yuri placed her hands on her hips and raised her chin. "I'm going to need a desk, not to mention we need chairs. Everyone needs to work on getting this place in shape so we can hold our meetings. I want a team working on walls, a team working on furniture, one on floors, and another on cleaning. Kanade, Otonashi, I want you two to come with me. Fujimaki, divide everyone up. Get to work!"

"This is so stupid."

Yuri jumped off the table and walked over to me. "Kanade, lets take a walk. Otonashi, you comin'?"

Yuzuru ran over and the three of us walked outside. We were in a park, so we just walked wherever.

"So what's with your life, Kanade?" Yuzuru asked. "I mean this new life of yours? What's yours like?"

"New life?" I asked.

"That's right," Yuri said looking up and closing her eyes, "we were all reborn. So what's your new life like?"

"I am finding all of this hard to believe," I replied, looking away.

"Just tell us," she demanded.

"Well. I'm the youngest in the family. My father died years back due to a mysterious illness, although mom thinks it wasn't an accident and someone poisoned him, but the investigation stopped after a while. My brother moved to America. He started in South, then worked his way up. He was in the United States when he came home because his girlfriend died. I think it was robbers who killed her. I used to be the sad loner until Yukki and Tsuki found me. We became good friends and they saved me from being anti-social. Mom has thanked them for that and thinks they're good friends for me, which they are. I guess. Pretty much my life has been consisting of reading books, sitting in the very back of rooms, alone, and laughing with my friends at the cafe. Nothing more. What about you two?"

Yuri sat down on a bench and we sat by her. She sighed and began.

"Well. It's better than my last one. I live here with my mom and dad. My older sister moved to the eastern part of Tokyo when she turned eighteen. Now all I can really do is go to school, come home, and sleep. We're just barely getting by with dad's weekly pay, but soon we'll run out of food. And after that, I don't know what will happen. It a mystery. And what about you, Otonashi?"

"I live in a small apartment with my little sister, Hatsune. My dad works day and night and only comes home Sunday's but sleeps the whole time. So Hatsune and I fend for ourselves. Mom died last winter. I don't have any friends, so I just hide in the corners at school. That's really it."

After everyone finished telling the short versions of their life stories, it fell silent. All I heard was the soft chirping of birds and the rushing water of a river nearby. And through the sound of nature, I heard Masami singing a song that came to me as familiar. I used to sing it when I was little, not knowing where I knew the tune from. But now, for some reason, I recognized it as _My Song_.

"We should go back now," Yuri said, standing up. "I want to see what groups Fujimaki put everyone into."

Turns out the groups were all sort of confused on what to do. There was the group working on cleaning, they were doing just fine. Picking up trash in the shack and stacking the boxes of random stuff outside for the time being. That group was Hisako, Irie, Masami, and Sekine.

The group that was supposed to arrange and get furniture was confused. They didn't know where to get the furniture, or where to put it. They were Naoi, Matsushita, and Takeyama.

The wall team was scrubbing away all of the dirt with no success. They would have to paint over it. But with what paint? Fujimaki, Shiina, and TK were clueless.

Floors was easy. Hinata, Ooyama, Takamatsu, and Yui just got rags and scrubbed. The filth came off easily, it was just the cracks and scrapes that was hard. Would they replace the whole floor or just leave it all beat up?

Nobody knew what to do and we didn't even have supplies to do anything. Yuri ordered the group to get everything out of the shack, the start with the walls and floors. So the cleaning team went to work removing all of the boxes and books from the shack as the furniture team brought out the table and book shelf. It was a very boring process.

"I have paint in my garage," I then said. "We have pink, white, and red. I could bring a can to paint the walls maybe."

Fujimaki looked up at the sky, then to me. "Thank God! But what color?"

Yuri studied the small shack, then looked at me. "What do you think, Kanade? White or red?"

I thought for a moment, then came up with a reasonable answer. "White. No color for anyone to judge."  
She smiled. "You and Shiina go get the paint and three brushes. Come back here and we'll start with that. Anyone else with supplies we can use, come to me."  
Siina and I walked back to my house where we went into the garage and grabbed the paint, I had to find brushes inside the house.

I searched the kitchen, then the hall closet, but came out empty handed.

"Kanade? What are doing?" Mom asked.

"Do we have paint brushes?" I replied, looking at her.

"In the living room closet, why? What do you need them for?"

"I'm helping my. . .friends fix up the shack in the park. We need to paint the walls."  
Mom saw Shiina behind me with the white paint and then her eyes flicked to the window, then to me. "Kanade. . .I'm glad you're doing something with work. Have fun."  
She turned and walked up the stairs. I didn't know how she could just let us fly like that, but I guess we succeeded.

I grabbed the brushes from the living room closet and Shiina and I set out for the park again. When we arrived, there was a lot more stuff than before. They finished emptying the shack and some of the group had brought things to help fix it from their houses.

TK grabbed the paint and danced over to Fujimaki where he, TK, and Shiina started to paint the walls.

A lot of people in the park started to stop and see what we were doing. One even smiled and thanked us for cleaning up the park. When an elderly man, who apparently owned the shack, stopped and questioned Yuri, he ended up just giving it to us for free. Everything was working out just fine.

Soon the inside walls were done and I was sent to get the red paint for the outside. It was dark by the time they got one outside wall finished. Everyone was ready to go home.

"After school tomorrow meet up here," Yuri ordered, "even you, Kanade."

I slowly nodded, then started my walk back to the house. I pulled out the hair tie holding my hair up and let it fall down around my shoulders and sway in the light breeze. I found myself enjoying the cool weather and slowing my pace.

I looked up to see the clouds coming together and a small drizzle began. If I didn't make it home soon enough, it would start to rain on me. But that thought only made me slow more. I liked the rain.

I was soaked when I entered my house. Ajoi ran over and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders then helped me up the stairs and into my bed.

"Kanade, you're sick. You shouldn't be out in the cold. Please, stay in bed."  
"Yes, of course."

"You aren't going to school tomorrow, much less that shack. Okay?"

"Not school, but I _am_ working on the shack, Onii-chan. You can't stop me. Now please, I need my sleep."

He gritted his teeth, turned around, and stormed out of my room. I was asleep within seconds.

I only just met these people and I already considered them my friends. No matter how silly the afterlife seemed, I still wanted to hang out with them. But what about Yukki and Tsuki? Oh well, they could join the group too.

I trusted them.


	4. I'm Here, Kanade

_**My Time of Rebirth**_

_**Chapter 4: I'm Here, Kanade**_

_**I noticed I forgot Yusa(if you don't know her, it's the girl with blonde hair that has the headset, she helps Yuri with operation tornado)so just imagine she helped the others in chapter 3. She's in this one. 'kay 'kay?**_

__When the sun peeked through my red velvet curtain the next morning, I decided I would attempt to get ready for school. Maybe I didn't want to, maybe I was really sick, maybe Akio didn't want me to go to school.

But maybe it's what I had to do.

I found my uniform washed and folded, laying on my dresser. Mom probably washed it last night. I slipped into it and tied the bow.

I braided my hair this time, letting it fall down my back. I then snapped a silver choker around my neck.

I found mom in the family room when I came downstairs. Akio was at work, thank God.

"Are you going to school today, Kanade?" Mom asked, standing up.

She had coffee in one hand and put the other on my shoulder. I looked up into her soft brown eyes and nodded.

"Yes, I am going to school today. Goodbye."  
She hugged me, then sat back down on the love seat. I ran out the door and found Yukki and Tsuki were walking up to the house. Their faces were glum and I thought maybe it was something to do with family issues.

"Kanade, where were you yesterday?" Tsuki asked. "We were worried sick when your mom said you were really sick! Are you okay now?"  
I walked off the porch and over to them. "I am so sorry. I was sick, but I'm fairly better now."  
Yukki threw her arms around me and started to cry. "TK hates me now! He said we couldn't be together! Oh Kanade! I need support!"  
I slowly moved my arms to her back. "I'm sorry, Yukki."

Tsuki put her hand on Yukki's shoulder and after a minute of silence, we began our walk to school. Yukki kept her head hanging, she was in between Tsuki and I. Tsuki had her arm around Yukki's shoulders and I walked close while staring at the ground.

"Kanade!"

I looked up and saw Hinata, Yuzuru, Yui, and Masami run up. Yui looked at Yukki then started to poke her forehead.

"Is she dead?" Yui asked, big eyed.

"No," I replied.

Yukki buried her face in Tsuki's shoulder and started to cry again. It was silent except for her endless sobs.

Hinata knelt down and looked up at Yukki. "What's wrong?"

"It's TK," I said, "TK wont go out with her."  
"TK?" Yui asked. "Hey, did anybody notice he doesn't have his red bandana over his eyes?"

Yukki looked up. "Red bandana? He's never had one of those over his eyes."

Yui laughed. "That moron always had tha stupid cloth over his eyes! How could he even see, much less, dance?!"  
I looked from Yukki, to the others, then back to Yukki. Then my eyes rested on Yuzuru. He was staring at me, smiling.

"Class is about to start," I said, looking at the building. "We should go."  
Class went by faster than it ever had. Soon it was lunch time and we were _all_ on the roof. It was everyone from the day before, and Yukki and Tsuki. Yukki was having trouble not looking at TK, but Tsuki managed to jump in front of her view from him and started up a conversation.

I stood up and walked over to Yuri. "May I sit here?"

She stopped laughing and looked up. Yuri was next to Yuzuru, Shiina, and Naoi. Yuzuru was smiling up at me as well as Yuri, and Shiina and Naoi had their arms crossed leaning against the small wall that prevented them from falling.

"Yeah, sure!" She said.

I keeled on my knees and smoothed out my skirt, then looked around the small group. "I did not know all of you went to this school."

Yuri put her hands behind her head and laid on her back. "Yep. I thinks it's destiny we all met up. I thought when we all were reborn, only a few of us would. I bet it was just bound for Yui and Hinata."

"So how did you remember, Yurippe?" Yuzuru asked.

Yuri looked at him. "I was walking home from school and suddenly saw flashes of pink. I walked over and saw Yui and Masami playing their song, Crow Song. It all just came flooding back. You know, I was the one who told them they should perform at the cafe? I knew all of you would somehow be there. So how did you remember without me telling you, Otonashi?"

He looked up at the sky and smiled. "I had a dream about my last moments in the afterlife. Then I ran into Kanade on the streets."  
Shiina uncrossed her arms and laid her hands on the hard cement roof. "This is so stupid."

I looked around and saw that everyone was jumping around, laughing, and talking. Flashes of memories came into my mind and I blinked. I was only with them for at least a week before we all left. I went fishing with them, I hooked Hinata. I ate Mobu Tofu with Yuzuru, Naoi locked us up. I saved them from being eaten by a fish, my clone attacked Yuri. It seemed like I was always the bad guy, even when I was their friend.

And then. . .and then it was my last moment in the afterlife. I was clinging to Yuzuru as he told me he loved me. And I said thank you. I knew he was in pain, I knew he was struggling to get the words out. He didn't want me to go. I had to leave him.

"Kanade?" Yuri asked. "You're spacing out."

I rose to my feet and stumbled a few steps to the right, then fell. I hit my head on the roof before passing out. All I saw before it went black was a blurry vision of everyone jumping up and running to my side, then Yuzuru keeling in front of me, screaming my name.

Just like in the last moments in the afterlife. He screams my name, then I'm suddenly gone.

Gone.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the school infirmary. I saw the nurse talking with mom off in a corner, and Akio glaring at me from a chair. In the doorway, I saw everyone was peeking their heads in. It was against the rules for more than one person to be in the infirmary with a sick friend, so they had to stay over there, secretly.

I slowly turned my head and saw Yuzuru was sitting by my bed. That's when I noticed Akio wasn't glaring at me, he was giving Yuzuru the death stare.

Yuzuru was holding my hand.

"She's awake," Akio said, placing his hand on mom's shoulder.

Yuzuru dropped my hand and stood up. "I'll go back to class now."

Everyone at the door scattered when the nurse opened it for Yuzuru, and I watched him go. I watched him descend down the hall, then turn into our class.

"I told you not to go to school," Akio said, "why are you here?"  
With the help of mom, I sat up, but flinched at the pain. My head was throbbing from hitting it on the cement and everywhere else hurt.

"Sorry, Onii-chan. I just wanted to see my friends."

"Then they can come to the house!"

I flinched, his shouting hurt my head and heart. I was in no condition to be yelled at. Or at least that's what my brain told me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, then closed my eyes and laid back down.

When I woke up again, I was in my bed at home. The sun was just setting and I stumbled to my window. I had missed helping with the shack. Everyone was probably already going home.

I looked in my mirror and saw my uniform was messed up again. I changed out of it and got into a different skirt, this time it was purple. Then I had my socks that came to my knees, and a white shirt with a purple jean bolero. I redid my braid, then walked downstairs, holding onto the railing for support.

I heard laughing and stopped halfway down the stairs. From the family room I heard mom talking, Yui laughing, and Hinata yelling. I saw Akio move from the family room to the kitchen, then come back with drinks. I saw Yuzuru was sitting at the bottom of the steps with his head in his hands. Was he waiting for me?

I slowly walked down and stopped behind him, then let my hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up and out eyes met for the briefest minute. I could see how deep his eyes went into me and it hurt.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Isn't that my line?" He replied, smiling.

I looked to the family room, then back to Yuzuru. "Did you already stop by the shack?"

"We worked on it for a little while, but came here right after. Your mom said she'll help us with furniture for it. Hey, why did you pass out?"

I slowly sank down next to him. "I. . .had a vision again. Another flashback. I always faint when I have those flashbacks for some reason."

"So what is this time?" He asked.

I looked down. "It was. . .all of my good moments with the battlefront. And. . .and my. . .and my last moment in the afterlife."

He blinked, fell silent, then stood up. "Come on, everyone's in the family room waiting for you."

I slowly walked in through the doorway and stopped, Yuzuru stopped behind me. Soon the room was quiet and Yuri got up, then put her hand on my shoulder.

"Nice to see you're up!" Her eyes snapped open and looked at Noda. "What are you doing, you idiot? I said not to swing the around anymore. Hinata! You idiot! Stop messing around!"

"They all still. . .they all still listen to you, Yuri," I said, looking up at her.

She suddenly stopped ordering them around and looked at me. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess you're right. I'm so used to being the leader and they're so used to following me, they still listen."

Suddenly a phone rang and Yusa picked it up. "Hello?. . .yes. . .okay. . .what?! No! He's here with the rest of us, not alone. . .please?. . .fine."

She snapped the phone shut and dropped it into her bag. "I have to go home. Sorry, Yuri. Noda, don't go getting into trouble while I'm gone, 'kay?"

He glared at her. "Just because our parents are friends, doesn't mean we are. Don't go ordering me around."

She raised an eye brow. "But we are friends, Noda."

He was silent, then said, "oh, yeah, that's right. Whatever. Just go home already."  
She collected her things, then ran out the door leaving the room in complete and utter silence. Then Yuri fell into a chair. "Well, I should get going. Just one more glass of that amazing lemonade."

Soon it was only Yuzuru, Yuri, mom, Akio, and I in the room. I was sitting in a chair, silently listening to their conversation.

"So about the shack thing?" Yuri asked, setting her fifth glass of lemonade on the table next to her. "What can you provide us with, Ms. Tachibana?"

"Well, if you need a desk, we have Kanade's father's old one in the garage, and his chair, too. We have no use for those anymore. And I guess we have a wooden bench Akio made a long time ago. Um. . .need a rug? The old one we had under the coffee table isn't any use to us either."

Yuri smiled. "We'll take all of it. Yuzuru, you'd better be ready, we're moving it tonight."  
Mom pointed at Akio. "Son, get your truck ready."

"It's nine o'clock," I pointed out.

Mom shrugged. "It's better than midnight, right? You're going to need light, too. Kanade, get some candles."

I stood up and went into the kitchen where I found a drawer of candles mom never used. When I came back to the family room, Akio and Yuzuru were moving dad's old desk to the truck and Yuri and mom had his old chair. Mom then pointed to the old blue rug that was rolled up against the wall. I picked that up in one hand and held the candles in the other. The bench was already in the bed.

Once the truck was loaded, we all piled in and drove to the park and entered the shack. I held a candle in my hand and lit the wick, then watched them move the desk into the shack, then place the chair under it. Yuri rolled out the rug in front of the desk. It stretched across the room and covered most of the floor, but still left visible wood in places along the wall. That wasn't bad.

Akio set the bench down against the wall, then turned to Yuri. "There's a bookshelf out there."  
"Yeah, it's pretty beat up," she replied.

"I can fix it for you if you like. It would look nice in here."

Yuzuru walked outside and looked at the bookshelf, then looked at Akio. "I can help with that. We just need paint and tools."

Mom rubbed her temples. "How about we do this tomorrow? Akio, give these kids a ride home. Kanade, in the truck."

By the time we dropped everyone off and got home, I was already sleeping. Akio laid me in bed and turned out the light.

Yuzuru wouldn't leave my head all night. Not once. His words echoed in my head all night. It saw his face, he was saying, "I'm here, Kanade."

He was there. He would always be there.

_**I tried adding more detail into this one. I want Kanade to faint a lot for some reason. Once again, please read Who's the Hero Now? By I Thirst For Blood. Don't ask why, the author is my best friend. Hope you liked this chapter!**_

_**-Korazoe**_


	5. Remember the Reasons Battlefront

_**My Time of Rebirth**_

_**Chapter 5: Remember the Reasons Battlefront**_

_**And here we go for chapter five! Small shout out to I Thirst For Blood, Writing this while we e-mail, finding it hard with three conversations at once. . . Just so you all know, I'm trying to slow down the pace and get more of Yuri slapping the others in there(had to add that, it actually means more detail, but whatever). I have to get better at this if I'm going to become an author! To the story! Onward! **_

__Maybe it was my imagination, but as soon as my eyes snapped open from the unimaginable(Apparently I managed to image it)nightmare, I saw Yuzuru's face. His perfect eyes staring into mine. The look on his face told me something was wrong.

"Yu. . .Yuzuru?" I managed, squinting.

His eyes seemed to show the slightest bit of light. "Kanade! You're awake!"

"Wh. . .what are you doing here?"

"I came to walk you to school. I got here and we heard you screaming," he gestured to Akio who was leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed, "and ran up here immediately. You were having a nightmare, it must have been terrible."

I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Yes. It was terrible. It was so. . .intense? No, I guess it was just frightening."  
"May I ask what it was about?"

I looked up at him, then back to my hands that were resting in my lap. "Um. . .Akio, could I talk to him alone?"

Akio raised a brow, then walked away, closing the door behind him. I heard his footfalls descend down the wall, then down the stairs. I could also hear him speaking to mom in the kitchen, so I started.

"It was another afterlife scene, Yuzuru. Our first meeting, and our second," I said.

He flinched, then looked to the ceiling. "Let's see, stabbing me dead in the chest, and. . .me shooting you. Yeah, I can see why you screamed. Anything else?"  
I smiled and looked away. "Again, last moments in afterlife. And. . .and seeing everyone after Naoi attacked. Your words were wonderful, by the way. You know, when you talked to Naoi."

He chuckled. "Yeah, when I yelled at Naoi. Then he grew a really strong attachment to me. So are those what made the nightmares?"

I suddenly looked at him and touched my hand to his chest. I felt a heartbeat, I heard it beating. It's rhythm. . .soothed me.

"Kanade?" He asked, seeing my eyes watching him. "Are you. . .are you okay?'

"It's beating."

He looked at my hand, then back to me. "Oh. . .that. I was reborn, I. . .funny to say this, but I have a heart now."

I laughed a little and took my hand away. "Yes, that's true. Hey, shouldn't we go to school now?"  
He stood up and helped me out of bed. "Yeah, that's right. You get ready, I'll be waiting downstairs."  
He walked to the door and opened it, turned back, looked at me, then left. I was left alone, standing and staring at the closed door.

"My. . .uniform."  
I turned around and found it laying at the end of the bed, neatly folded. I looked down and saw I was in my pink pajamas. Mom, she had dressed me while I was sleeping. . .again.

Once I was dressed and had my hair up like usual, I went down into the kitchen and found Yuzuru was eating and talking with Akio.

When they looked up, I saw Akio's eyes were more empty than they last were and I felt like. . .crying?

Mom set a plate of bacon and eggs on the table and smiled. "Breakfast, Kanade?"

"Thanks. . .uh, thank you, mom," I said, slowly sitting down.

Her eye brows flew up and she sat down herself. "Yusa called, she said that, wait, let me get this right. . .Yusa called and said that Yuri told Hinata to call you who told TK to call you who told Fujimaki dance to the beat who made Hinata go back to Yuri to ask what she wanted to tell you again, Yuri kicked him, then told Noda to deliver the message, Noda told Yusa Yuri wanted her to tell you that. . .well, whatever, Yusa said meet them at the the shack today."

I blinked, processing this information. "So. . .I should go to the shack after school?"

Yuzuru then got up and grabbed my arm. "Kanade, you ready."  
I place my fork on the plate and stood. "Yes, I am. Goodbye mom, Akio."  
I was practically pulled out of the house, but found my footing when we got outside and Yuzuru slowed.

"Yuri meant we're going to the shack right now, skipping school," he translated.

I immediately stopped. "Skip school? I've never done that before."  
He shoved his hands into his pockets and closed his eyes, looking down. "Neither have I. Ready?"

I swallowed, then followed him. We reached the shack and found that we were the last to arrive. Well, besides Noda, but Yuri didn't wait for him.

"Let's get started," she said, slamming her hands down onto her new desk.

Most of the group was back against the wall on the bench. Shiina and Naoi were in the darkest corner, arms crossed. Masami and Yui were tuning their guitars on the floor by the door and the rest of the band was laughing next to them. I sat on the bench right in middle, in between Hinata and Matsushita. Yuzuru stood behind me, hands in pockets.

"We need a new name," Yuri commanded.

"Does it still have to end with battlefront?" Hinata asked.

She glared at him. "Dumb ass, does it look like we're a battlefront?!"

He turned his head to the side, then looked straight at Yuri. "Uh, I don't think so."

"Then what do you think?"

"Um. . .no battlefront! Am I right?"  
Suddenly a book hit his face, leaving a red mark above his right eye.

"Nice. . .throw," he muttered, then looked at the floor.

Masami looked up. "Don't we need something like a battlefront though? What exactly are we anyway?"

"I still think we're bullies with weapons," Yuzuru said.

"I don't think we have weapons anymore," Yusa mumbled, resting her chin in her palms. "I miss my earphones."

Yuri fell back into her chair and crossed her feet on the desk. "Well, we're all together again, so that's means we're _something_. But what? Do we still have a reason to fight?"

Ooyama raised his hand and Yuri looked at him. "We can be Reason to Fight!"

"That sounds cool," Fujimaki admitted, "coming from the kid with no brains."

"Reason to fight. . .what? There had to be something after that!" Yuri shouted, closing her eyes and leaning back.

"Reason to Fight for Yurippe!" Hinata shouted.

Her eyes snapped open and another book hit his head. "Are you trying to make me mad! And what's the reason!"

The room was silent for a moment. Everyone was either thinking or doing something else. Yuri kept tapping her fingers on the armrest.

"Remember the Reasons Battlefront," I suggested.

"So we're back to the battlefront?" Takamatsu asked.

"No, I like that," Yuri replied, finally sitting up and smiling. "We'll stick with battlefront, but that's really good. Thanks, Kanade."

"Why remember?" Matsushita asked, scratching his head and finally looking up from his chocolate bar.

"Because we're just remembering the afterlife," Yuzuru replied.

Suddenly Akio walked into the room and all afterlife subjects stopped.

"I knew I'd find you guys here," he said, glaring at me. "I finished the bookshelf this morning. Kanade, since when do you ditch school?"

I looked away. "Since today, sorry."  
He smiled and laughed. "Finally following in my footsteps I see? Keep up the good work, sis. Someone help move this shelf into this place!"

Noda picked it up and dropped it next to the window that somehow had glass in it. They must have put it in there that morning.

Akio hugged me, glared at Yuzuru, then left. I watched him go from the window, then turned and gave a thumbs up.

Yuri looked at everyone. "Okay, Remember the Reasons Battlefront it is. Now, who can get uniforms?"

"But we don't even live in dorms anymore!" Hinata protested. "And anyway, if we wore those uniforms to school, they would call our parents! They aren't NPC's!"

Yuri grinned. "Hinata, it's worth getting in trouble. And besides, since when are you worried about parents? Now I repeat, who can get uniforms?"

Shiina stepped out of the shadows. "Design them. My mom owns a clothing shop, they custom order uniforms every day."

Irie and Sekine pulled out paper and went to work on drawing out the uniforms, then coloring them. Yuri went to the next task.

"And we need times to meet here. And what are we fighting?!" She said, glaring.

Suddenly there was an explosion outside and we were all on out feet in seconds.

"What is that _thing_?!" Yui screamed.

I stood up. "How about we fight _that_?"

_**Listening to Song of Storms dubstep, do not bother! Anyway, this one was shorter, but better? I sure hope so. **_


	6. Dreams Memories Shadows?

_**My Time of Rebirth**_

_**Chapter 6: Dreams, Memories. . .Shadows.**_

_**Wow, probably wont get this chapter done tonight, but that's two in one day not including this one! Onward! To the story!**_

It was as if all of our troubles from the afterlife suddenly came crashing into the real world. And to make things worse, I hardly remembered anything from that apparent life. All I knew is it happened, and I was there. I new few details.

Yui screamed and ducked. We all ran outside and found a giant. . .shadow? What was that thing?

"Didn't you already destroy the shadows, Yuri?!" Hinata screamed.

"Yeah, in the afterlife too!"

I looked around and noticed everyone in the park looked happy and normal. As if. . .as if only us could see it.

"Yuri!" I shouted, and when she looked at me, I pointed to a couple on a bench. "Look."  
A shadow went right through them and came out in front of TK and the couple didn't even glance up. It was. . .no. . .it was like they only existed to us!

Yuri looked back to the group and screamed. "Retreat! We're going somewhere safe!"

"Where?" Hinata asked.

"School!"

At school, we all went to our classes. The teachers gave us warnings(which I seemed to get away with on all of them), then sat us down.

I sat in my seat by Yuzuru and glanced out the window every five minutes, no, let me correct that, every five seconds.

"Kanade," he whispered, "don't be so jumpy."  
I looked at him, then ripped out a paper from my notebook. I wrote a note, another thing I had never done. It read:

_I can't stop being jumpy until someone explains what that was!_

I slipped it to him and he quickly wrote back, glancing at the teacher a few times.

_It was a shadow. Back in the afterlife, we fought some that were being created by an NPC. Yuri destroyed them, but I don't know how they're here._

I crumbled the note in my hand and rested my head on the desk, then I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I looked at the window and saw Noda was leaning in, with everyone else behind him.

"Quickly, let's go," he whispered.

I looked up at the teacher who had his back to the class, then back to Noda. "Why?"

"Because, we're having a meeting on the roof. Bring Otonashi too!"

I tapped Yuzuru's shoulder, then pointed to the window. I glanced at the teacher, then jumped out the window. Yuzuru came out next.

The class stared at us, but said nothing. Before we ran off, I heard the teacher say.

"Where did Tachibana and Otonashi go?"

We climbed the ladder to the roof where Yuri jumped up onto the railing and glared at us.

"There are _shadows_ in the real world. We have a problem," she said.

Masami then spoke. "Yurippe, I. . .I obliterated first, and An-er, Kanade, doesn't remember yet. What exactly are shadows?"

Yuri sighed and jumped off the railing. "Iwasawa, after you left, we came to realize the one we knew as Angel wasn't actually an Angel and was a normal human like us. We started getting to know her, and she became our friend. And then she suddenly had clones. Once those were fought off, a black mist we referred to as shadows showed up. They would go inside of you, suck you into the ground, then you would come back an NPC. It happened to Takamatsu," she stopped and drank from her water bottle, then continued. "You see, I followed the path down tot he guild and found that an NPC was controlling the shadows, and that anyone could become God. I destroyed the shadows by shooting down the system. Now, we have shadows here. But how? I don't know."

Fujimaki leaned against the wall and frowned. "If anyone could be God in the afterlife, then maybe someone is God in the real world and is testing us. You know?"

Yuri spun around to face him. "That could be true, but then again, who else would know about shadows besides us?"  
"God," Naoi said, I wasn't sure if he meant the figure playing God, or himself.

Shiina's eyes suddenly snapped open and she spun around. There was three shadows on the roof.

"What are they doing here?!" Yuri shouted. "I want my gun!"

Then she suddenly had a gun in her hand. At first we all stared at it in wonder, but she started shooting at the shadows.

"Screw it! I have a gun! Let's do this!" She screamed.

Shiina had her knifes and we all went into battle. The people without weapons went hand to hand combat. I stood back, stunned, not knowing what to do.

Yuzuru ran back and looked into my eyes. "Kanade, you have to help!"

Suddenly memories came to me. I went down into the guild to save Yuri, and I destroyed a lot of shadows. I knew how to do it.

"Handsonic," I said.

Suddenly a blade came from my hand. It scared me half to death, but it was a weapon.

"Handsonic, version five."  
It suddenly change to a pincher looking thing, but it worked.

I ran at the shadows and started to swing. More jumped up onto the roof and we kept battling. Yuri looked at me and smiled, the others had fear in their eyes.

And then I was thrown into the railing and I looked down. Shadows were climbing the walls. Not knowing what I was doing in my head, but knowing what I was doing in my body, I jumped off the roof.

The Battlefront ran to the side and watched me fall, then I suddenly snapped out the wings I never knew I had, and slid down the wall, killing shadows on my way down. Once my feet were touching stone, I gave them a thumbs up sign, then kept fighting.

I. . .I remembered everything. I remembered my life before the afterlife, the afterlife, and now I was living this one with all of my. . .friends? The new battlefront? How was this possible. All of the possibilities and we all met up! Destiny, funny.

Now we were all back in the shack. Silence filled the air and others cursing under their breath filled my ears. It was too much.

"Why are they here?" I asked breaking the silence

Yuri finally stopped tapping her fingers on the chair and looked up. "We need weapons."

Shiina suddenly walked up to Yuri's desk and dropped a box onto it, then walked back to the corner.

"What is this, Shiina?" Yuri asked, sitting up.

"Uniforms. I called my mom and told her to make them fast."

Yuri opened the box and pulled out a girls' uniform. It had a white shirt with a black collar(_**Korazoe speaking: Those anime collar things that I don't really know the name of**_)and read tie. The skirt was red and black plaid, then the socks that came to the knees were black. The boys' was similar, but no skirt. Duh.

Right on the shoulder of each uniform was the class SSS symbol, but there was also a name tag on each(with our names)and under the names it said Remember the Reasons Battlefront. Yuri smiled and started handing out the uniforms.

"Everyone take these home and wear them tomorrow. Now back to the weapon matter."

Suddenly the door swung open and a big man stood there. He had a scruffy beard and was really filthy.

"Maybe I can help?"

Yuri's face brightened up and she smiled. "Chaa! Wow! Never thought I'd see you again!"

Masami raised an eye brow. "Isn't that the guy who worked the guild?"

He walked to Yuri and handed her a gun. "Yurippe, I found most of the guild members and rounded them up. We've been making weapons ever since."

"How?" Yuzuru asked. "Wasn't that only possible in the afterlife be-"

Yuri glared at him and he stopped.

"Chaa probably found his own way of working things."

Chaa's face grew more serious. "Yurippe, something's off. I saw Angel, er, Kanade, use her powers. She shouldn't be able to do that here, she doesn't even have the Angel player. And then that gun appeared in your hand, the shadows. None of this should happen. But it is."  
When nobody spoke, Yuri sighed. "Remember the Reasons. What reasons? After Kanade became our friend, there were no more reasons to fight."

"Besides the shadows," Naoi said.

"Exactly. Now we have a reason again. Destiny, my friends, is a funny thing."

I looked down and noticed Yuzuru was holding my hand. I was speechless for a moment, then I looked at Yuri. "We graduated from that life a long time ago. Years. Yet we all met up, even at the same age we were when we left. How is that even possible? It's defiantly not coincidence, but destiny seems like a silly thing. I thought there was no God, Buddha, or Angel. Doesn't destiny fit in there somewhere?"

Yui raised her hand. "I was obliterated before the shadows came! I don't even know what they are!"  
"Yui, Yurippe already explained to me," Masami said.

"Oh yeah. That's right," Yui laughed, looking down. "Hey! I'm glad I'm not bedridden in this life! No cars from behind!"

Hinata smiled. "Still a baseball through a window, though."  
Yuri stood up and walked to Chaa, placing her hands on her hips. "Good work. See if you can get the rest of them guns, and Noda's stick back."

"It's not a stick," Noda muttered.

"Sure thing."

Chaa left the shack and Yuri turned back to us. "Shadows could be anywhere, remember what they did to Takamatsu last time. Be aware and stay on guard. Once again, don't travel alone. Got it? Okay, you're all dismissed."  
Girl's Dead Monster left together and I saw then pull out instruments in the park. Yusa and Noda left arguing and Takamatsu and Takeyama went staring at the laptop. Hinata followed Grldemo and stayed to watch while TK danced to their music. Matsushita kept beating up a tree right next to the street performance. Surprisingly, Shiina and Naoi left _holding hands_. Miss ninja had a heart after all. Fujimaki left holding Ooyama in a headlock and somehow he managed to break free. They all seemed happy in this time of disaster.

I stood in the center of the room. Yuzuru was off by the shelf and Yuri was thinking at her desk. We were all quiet, not moving or doing anything.

Then Yuri looked up. "What are you two still doing here?"

Yuzuru frowned. "I was thinking. If Chaa gives all of us guns, then, well, we have parents you know. That isn't going to work. This isn't like the afterlife."

Yuri leaned back in her chair. "And? It's called hiding, Otonashi."

"Remember trying to hide that candy you sneaked from the kitchen when you were little? It's like that, but with a hunk of metal that can kill a man. They eventually find it. They aren't NPC's, you know."  
I blinked. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Yuri asked.

I pointed out the window. "I was, I don't know. It was as if we were in a video game, when it flickers when glitching. Like that, but this time I saw the afterlife school. What do you think it was?"

Yuzuru and Yuri both walked to the window and looked out, but shook their heads, not seeing anything.

"Back to the point," Yuzuru announced, "the guns?"

Sighing, Yuri slipped her gun into a desk drawer. "We can't keep them with us at all times. So. . .how about only here. We come to the shack every morning, get the guns, attend school, and come back."

"Go to school with a gun?! Are you nuts?!" Yuzuru shouted.

"Well, we're fighting off shadows here. If we don't have our weapons, we're pretty much useless. The people can't see them, but we can. You know, the shadows may even be harmful to the people, but they just don't know it."

I turned and opened the door. "I'm tired, I'm going home now. Goodbye."

Yuzuru put his hand on my shoulder. "I'll walk you. Bye, Yurippe."  
We walked out into the fresh, open air and began the decent to my house. Then out of the blue, Yuzuru grabbed my hand and made an unexpected turn.

"Yuzuru, where are we going?" I asked as he led me down an unfamiliar street.

"A restaurant I know. I hear Grldemo is playing there right now. Come on!"

He pulled me into a restaurant where on a small stage Masami and Yui were singing, Hisako was playing her guitar, Irie was on the drums, and Sekine was walking her fingers along the bass strings. I knew that song. It was Alchemy.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

We sat down in the far corner and watched them after Yuzuru ordered spicy Mobu Tofu, my favorite.

He leaned over to my ear and whispered, "we're here, Kanade, for our first date."

(Yuri's POV)

After Kanade and Otonashi left, Yuri sat at her desk pondering all of the possibilities when a thought came into her head. Shadows, meeting up at the same age, flickers of the school in the afterlife. What if they next left?

_No, that's ridiculous,_ She told herself, _not possible. We graduated._

Then she walked to the window and placed her hand on the glass. "Please, God, tell me what to do."

She grabbed her shoulder bag and slipped the gun into it, then went out. The sweet smell of Spring air hit her and a slight smile crossed her face. School would be out soon.

Yuri ran home and flew into the house. "Mom! I'm home!"

Her little sister jumped up onto her and shrieked with joy, then the other two did the same.

"Yuri! Dadda got the job!" Her little brother said, smiling.

Yuri carried them into the family room where her mom and dad sat, talking. There were smiles on every face, and it made her wonder.

How could something so terrible happen when she was so happy? In her past life, she had lost all three siblings in thirty minutes, now she had them back. All three.

She smiled and collapsed onto the sofa. "So, how's it going?"

And what would happen if all of her happiness disappeared? All of it went missing in the chaos? What then?

No.


	7. First Date

** Have any of you been counting the months in which I have been gone? Any of you?*sigh* I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry~! I'M SO SORRRRRRRYYYYYYYY! Please forgive me! For those of you who like this FF, then I'm dedicating the chapter to you, because unless you can convince me otherwise, I'm probably going to delete my account on fanfiction. . .so, this chapter is just Kanade and Yuzuru's data, okay? Okay.**

My heart was beating abnormally fast, almost in rhythm to the beautiful music Girldemo was playing, the song had changed to something nobody would ever forget, My Song, when Masami vanished in the afterlife. Yuzuru was still close to my ear, his breath touching my pale skin.

"D-date?" I asked, having nothing else to say. I knew he was smiling.

"Yeah, a our first date. Are you going to eat that?"

My eyes flicked to the spicy Mobu Tofu in front of me, my mouth watered. "Yes, I will."

And I did. I ate it slowly, but happily. Just the word date coming from him made me all happy inside. Butterflies lost control of where they were going and went wherever they felt necessary, mainly making me shiver.

"Why do you think Yui and Iwasawa were born as sisters?" He asked, digging into his own food after moving away from my ear.

I pressed my lips together, thinking. "They look alike, and both like music. Maybe they were just too alike to separate."

He shrugged. "But Yui is bubbly and fun while Iwasawa is sort of depressed."

"Yes, but that's just their personalities. My brother is different from me, and we're still siblings. Masami and Yui don't need to be alike."

The last few lyrics to the song were finished with tears from the gathered crowd. Most were normal people enjoying their night, but some were the others from the afterlife, some from the Guild that I didn't exactly know. I never had much time to meet anyone after befriending the Battlefront.

"Thank you all for coming!" Masami said, smiling brightly.

Yui pointed out at us and winked. "Yeah! Thanks! Hope to see you all next time!"

Yuzuru dropped some cash onto the table, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out into the outside world. The cherry blossom trees were sprouting, giving off a nice feeling. I was pulled down the sidewalk, blossoms falling into my white hair. Yuzuru didn't stop until we reached an empty park, the sun was just about down. The lighting was amazing.

"I wasn't done eating," I said softly, he chuckled and started to walk at a slower pace. It wasn't until a few minutes that I realized he still held my hand. My face grew red as a tomato.

"Why are you blushing?"

I looked down at our hands. Instead of letting go, he smiled softly, gripped it tighter, and kept walking. "So what do you want to do, Kanade?"

I looked around the park, then pointed at a lonely ice cream man. "I want ice cream."

"The sun is almost gone, though!"

He walked over anyway and came back with two cones. Mine was lemon, which I didn't really like, but wasn't about to tell him that when everything was going so well.

"Yuzuru?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you happy the group is back together?"

It took him a moment to answer, but he eventually nodded. "I am. Remember the reasons Battlefront is made up of us friends, even if Yurippe never stops beating up Hinata, and Hinata still seems gay to me, we're all friends, and I'm so happy we're back together. Especially you, Kanade."

I looked down. "You're too kind for your own good."

He slowly to a stop and took my hands, even with the cone in one. His eyes shone brightly as he searched mine for some meaning. I was guessing he needed comfort, so I hugged him, tightly. I didn't let go until he pulled back and lifted my chin. "I missed you, Kanade."

"But you didn't know me until now."

"I know, but something in me said there was this one girl waiting for me."

I blushed and pressed my face against his chest, listening to that heartbeat and matching my breathing with it. It was so nice to be there with him in that park as if drew darker and darker.

"Kanade?"

"Yes, Yuzuru?"

"Do you still love me?"

I pulled back and looked into his eyes this time, also searching. This time, though, I searched for something that said he wasn't just messing with me. He was serious. I smiled. "I love you, Yuzuru Otonashi."

And his lips pressed against mine. An incredible jolt went through me, sending shivers down my back. My first kiss since ever. Was I truthfully in love? Did I love this boy who helped me through everything in every life? Literally every life. My first, when he donated his heart. The afterlife, he helped me become part of class SSS. And in that one, when he saved me from being a simple girl in Tokyo. Did I love Yuzuru Otonashi with all my heart?

I did. And I always would.

**I'm sorry it's so short! Fanfiction, I think I'm deleting my account, okay? If you can somehow convince me not to, I won't. But if you can't, this is the last chapter. I hope it was sweet enough~**

**~KoraZoe~**


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